SEDA CEO takes personal loan to keep agency afloat
Protas Madlala believes the Small Enterprise Development Agency in eThekwini dodged a bullet when it avoided having to close its doors at the 11th hour.
The agency's problems started when funding at a national level stopped coming through in March.
Although funding from the Municipality continued - Madlala, the CEO says things got worse when the lights were switched off and staff were not getting paid.
He says the 60 business owners who utilise the facility - as well as the agency's own employees - became concerned, which prompted him to take out a personal loan to keep the agency afloat.
"I'm almost R400 000 down personally which I have no guarantee that they will pay it back. Pretoria is fighting that my own board must discipline me, saying I have violated corporate government. I have heard that unofficially that they are very embarrassed by our performance and our success," he says.
A special board meeting has been called for today. Madlala says the eThekwini branch is the busiest in the country with clients coming from as far as the Eastern Cape and Zululand.
Meanwhile, the Small Business Ministry says its committed to resolving issues.